


Trials and Lessons of the Heart and Mind

by LayreCrux



Category: Bleach
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Pre-Turn Back the Pendulum Arc, Tragic Romance, Turn Back the Pendulum Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:08:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29723277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LayreCrux/pseuds/LayreCrux
Summary: Life never plays out quite the way you want it to. That was what both Byakuya Kuchiki and Kirika abe learned very quickly. Saddled with her mother's expectations for carrying on the dying Abe Clan name, Kirika is to wed the only son of the Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads when all she wanted was to spend her days with the future head of the Kuchiki Clan.
Relationships: Kuchiki Byakuya/Original Female Character(s)





	Trials and Lessons of the Heart and Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is the first fanfiction I've posted, so I do hope you all enjoy it. This story has been floating around in my head for a few weeks now, stemming from another Bleach fanfiction I was writing. I'm not entirely sure how updates will work, but they will be rolling out.

**T** he Abe clan was one of few female sovereignty in the Soul Society. They were once held in the highest regard; protecting the Royal Family. They rarely were seen, however, the little that was known of the family was the heir was always a woman possessing peach coloured hair. Their exact duties were never recorded, though it proved little to matter. 

No soul was aware of why they had been discharged or exactly when they had appeared as a presence amongst the noble families. Their history amongst the noble families began as the sky started to blend with the cool purple overtones of dusk and an ethereal woman appeared. Her long peach locks were coiffed into an elegant braided Florette heavy enough to start at the base of her neck leading up and across the side of her head. Her furisode seemed to gleam like light dancing off the ripples of a pond, her lightning-like blue eyes piercing the ground beneath her clogged feet, her entourage at a crawling pace behind her. Everything before that day was lost to history. 

**T** he women of the family were labeled as uncharacteristically difficult. They were picky on husbands, fear of losing their already fragile spot always dangling before them. Should their husband be too high ranking they would lose their power. On the other side, should they marry too low beneath them they would be scorned from the public eye further. Unfortunately, it seemed the Soul Society hadn’t much of a variant, and they were not forgiving when it came to nobility and their practicality. 

No master smith, nor historian, nor military force was necessary from them. The days of their usefulness had long outgrown their name. With nothing to truly provide the Soul Society other than a name and forgotten lineage, the Abe Clan fell, again, from greatness.

Their luck grew to come with words of admonishment. Stubborn brides weren’t in high demand- no matter how beautiful they may be. The Abe clan fell from their high nobility ranking to a lesser-known aristocratic family in what seemed a heartbeat to a Shinigami’s lifespan. 

Cast aside and whispered of, the matriarch’s advisor grew desperate for recognition by the time she came of age. Her mother had willingly sold her to the highest bidder of lesser importance, trying to maintain some semblance of power. The man chosen to be her husband, Akifumi Tsuchiya, was a meek man. He toiled about his duties as a Soul Reaper under Captain Love Aikawa who did nothing but sing his praises.

The matriarch’s advisor, her daughter, was resentful of her mother’s decision to sell her off to an unknown Soul Reaper. What once was a prized daughter, now reduced to being the wife of a Third-Seat Soul Reaper, not even of notable background. Minako Abe was determined to right her mother’s wrongs. It would take time to rise from the ashes of her scorned name, but her resolve was strong.

She was graced with three daughters, one of whom possessed the trait _she_ so desperately yearned for. Minako was an only child and the daughter of the head of the Abe Clan. The responsibility of producing the heir to the Abe clan fell on her and her alone, and she had done it. She was Minako’s thirdborn, but she was a head full of peach coloured hair. 

Kirika Abe. She would be Minako’s phoenix. With her birth, the Abe Clan seemed to be given a breath of fresh life.

**T** he heir to the Abe name would grow into a beautiful young woman. Her peach locks grew out in large luxurious waves and her eyes resembled a deep blue pearl-like colour. Though her mild-mannered tendencies seemed to quell the rumors that swirled around her clan’s name, she only grew to infuriate her family. 

From a young age, she was far from a fan of the primping and priming thrust upon her by her mother. Her sisters, Eiko and Kana, were envious of the attention she received, hardly getting a second thought from their mother and grandmother. Though they received their father’s gene of auburn hair, they adopted Minako’s temperament. 

Kirika never understood her sister’s jealousy. Surely they didn’t want to be subjected to all of this grooming. The older she became, the more clear it was to Kirika her existence was nothing more than to further her mother’s legacy. If she thought hard enough about it, she truly couldn’t recall a time where her mother was concerned for her because she was her _daughter_ but because she was her _heir_. 

She was hardly allowed out of the manor. She always had to be supervised by one of the few remaining servants her mother and grandmother had _somehow_ maintained over the years. The lack of maintenance on the manor, however, over the years had proven to be a difficulty, preventing the young heir from even exploring her own home. 

Day and night, Kirika was yanked about from a young age. Her feelings most definitely hadn’t mattered. One moment she would be peacefully resting, the next she would be lifted from bed, dressed, and having her mounds of hair pulled from each direction. She would be ushered between family meetings, business meetings, and refinement classes. Minako was certain her daughter would be able to juggle the various points her life would have. She hadn’t a choice in the matter, anyways. 

Her reprieve from her “normal” life was the slim time spent with her father. Minako hardly allowed the Akifumi to see his child. Of course, he was free to spend time with “ _the other two._ ” He loved his children equally. His only two wishes for life were simple; his wife to love his children as fairly as he dreamed to, and to be able to spend time with _all of them_. 

When he could sneak his daughter away, Akifumi would usher her around the Seireitei. He would gush over the few things he was allowed to see from her to anyone who would listen. His captain understood his third seat's position and would waive his duties whenever he would get wind of his third seat bringing his daughter. It’s not like it happened often enough to impede his squad’s duties, anyway. 

Minako took every opportunity to argue with her husband. Each time he would arrive back with Kirika would be a shouting match. She had dubbed his actions a means of undermining her, an attempt to throw her clan further into disarray. 

“There’s no need to be parading the girl about unless you are in search of a high-ranking husband for her to marry!” It was her most common phrase to hurl at him. Each time cut him to his core, knowing full well she had _never_ loved any of them. She never respected his rank- “you’re no Captain! You’re not _even_ a Lieutenant,” often followed not long after. As if his efforts amounted to nothing in her eyes. 

Each time his head hung his head low and bit his tongue. When he was chosen to be her husband, he had felt luckier than he had all his life. He had heard the rumors of their arduous behaviors and he hadn’t wavered in his stance. Minako Abe was always the most beautiful woman he had the pleasure of laying eyes on. No amount of compliance or respect from him could change how she viewed him though. Being the Third Seat was nothing but failure in her eyes. He would never be good enough. Hell, he doubted being a captain would have been good enough for her. All he could ever utter back before another flurry of callously flung words was, “you should not ask for more than you are willing to give.”

Unfortunately, Minako was willing to give just about anything. 


End file.
